Wedding Photo Book Tips from Photographer Claire Cordier

An important figure in the Blurb universe is the professional wedding photographer, so we reached out to one of our favorites, UK-based Claire Cordier. She’s had years of experience making lovely wedding photo albums with our creative publishing platform and was kind enough to tell us about her bookmaking process. She also shared some tips and tricks that will help every photographer (and bride and groom) make their wedding books shine.

What made you decide to add photo books to your wedding photography packages?

I thought it would be a nice extra as it’s a way all the best images from the day can be stored in one place. It’s a keepsake to show family for years to come.

What do you think couples are looking for in a great wedding book? Are they very individual or do you find themes and patterns?

I like to think that couples are looking for a story of their day without words. So they can hand someone the book and say, “This was my wedding day” and the viewer gets a good feel of what their day was like. As if they were there themselves.

What makes a great wedding book cover?

Of course this depends on the size of book you’re creating, so choose something that can fit without cutting off crucial parts of the image. There also needs to be some space to fit the title, so make sure there’s an area of the photo that’s not too busy where you can place text.

Obviously you’re all about photography, but can you tell us how you use words in a wedding book? What’s a good ratio of photo to text?

I don’t like to include a lot of text within the wedding books I create. If the couple is okay with it, I like to include a quote about marriage or love at the very start of the book, but that’s it. Other photographers might like to include more text than this. We all have our own way of doing things.

What’s a good number of photos to include in a wedding book? Is there an ideal ratio of photos to pages?

I always suggest around 40–50 images. I’ve learnt that this can be a hard ask when you have photos from bridal preparations to the first dance. That’s a LOT of photos to choose from! So I ask couples to choose all of their favorites and we go from there.

Then I show them examples of how the book would look if I used the majority of the images they’d chosen. Then they decide if the book looks too busy. Some people love it, some not so much. I’ve even had couples that prefer just one image per page for the whole book. It really does vary from book to book. Some photographers prefer to stick to a particular number, but I’m happy to let couples decide. This can make the whole process a little longer, but as long as my couples are aware of this and are happy to work with me on creating their perfect book, then this is how I like to work.

As for images per page, I like to mix it up quite a lot within the book.

For the formal shots, I have started using just the vertical images, filling a whole double-page spread with them. That could be anything up to 12 images. These are the type of images people feel they have to shoot at a wedding, even though they might not necessarily want to print them all. So having them across a double page is a good way to include them (and makes all that time shooting them worthwhile).

Most other images are split two to four to a page with all the special images and shots of the bride and groom enlarged to a whole page by themselves (or one to two to a page). I find this emphasizes the wow factor of those images.

Black and white vs. color. Is it personal choice or is color best for certain types of shots?

I like to include a mix of both. Black and white is great for those special moments as it has a way of evoking emotion and seems to keep people turning to the next page. However, it is personal preference. Some couples are happy for me to decide what I think looks best in black and white. Others will choose their own favorites. Some couples decide that black and white just isn’t for them and have their whole book printed in color.

When you’re creating layouts, do you like to make your own or go with the ones we provide, or a combination of both?

I like to use a combination of both. Each book should look different and I like having the opportunity to custom create layouts. It allows me to stand out from the rest and apply my own style. For example, I like some images to extend onto the next page a little, so for these I create my own template. Same for the formal shots that I fill a whole double-page spread with.

What are the key shots to include in a wedding album?

II leave this up to the couples to decide, as it’s their book. They know what’s important to them. But there are a few key shots everyone will choose: walking down the aisle, exchanging the rings, first kiss, first dance, and, of course, portraits of the bride and groom.

If you were putting together your own wedding book, what would be the top four things you’d want to have absolutely perfect?

Design, design, design!

I like a lot of white space and for the images to be arranged in an unexpected way. I like to be different!

A must is that the book should flow nicely by telling a story of the day.

I do love a quote so it would be nice to incorporate some about love and marriage or things the couple have said to one another. As long as it doesn’t draw attention away from the photos too much!